Looking for some suitable entertainment for my grandchildren, I am inspecting a site called Pure Flix, which offers a 7-day free trial. Their menu includes Veggie Tales, a Christian animated series for children. According to their site, it “is the worldwide leader in selecting and streaming faith and family-friendly media that changes lives, inspires hearts and lifts the spirits of members like you and those you love.” Because it is the Easter season of the year, they are presently promoting a movie called “Risen.” I decided to watch it.
“Risen” is a 2016 biblical drama starring Joseph Fiennes as Clavius Aquila Valerius Niger, a Roman Tribune (tribuni militum). It offers an interesting plot – Pilate instructs this military officer to investigate the rumors of Jesus’s resurrection, and to locate his missing body. This movie follows the trek of Clavius. He initially tries to break the conspiracy of the disciples of Jesus stealing his body from the tomb. The deeper he digs, the more he finds confusion. The stolen body theory does not fit the facts. He no longer knows what to believe.
One Christian reviewer describes “Risen” as historical fiction that is “largely harmonious with the Gospel story.” It follows the theme of the story of Clavius. The resurrection is the primary focus, but it avoids making Jesus and his disciples the main characters. Considered strictly as a movie, I enjoyed it. The acting was good, and the film well done. Nevertheless, I struggle to enjoy a historical biblical movie. My own biblical understanding brings out the critic in me, and I suppose rightly so, finding things here that do not fit the gospel narrative. As Jesus is about to ascend to heaven, he begins his discourse with a quotation taken from John 14, “I go to prepare a place for you.” Also, Clavius has gone with the disciples to meet Jesus at Galilee. Obviously necessary to the plot of the movie, which is presented from Clavius’s point of view, but clearly unbiblical.
Finally – and I should have dealt with this before getting caught up in the idea of watching this movie. We who believe that Jesus is “what a Saviour!” – the eternal, divine, all-holy, Son of God – must always be disappointed with any theatrical depiction of Jesus. It just cannot measure up. Truly, is it a good or even biblical idea to hire a man to play Jesus?
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